The World Federation delegation meeting with His Eminence Ayatollah Hafidh Basheer Najafi (DA)

Posted on Mon, 2017-08-14 13:02

A delegation of The World Federation of KSIMC had a meeting with His Eminence Ayatollah Hafidh Basheer Najafi (DA) in Najaf-al-Ashraf on 23 July 2017. The delegation comprised of the President, Anwarali Dharamsi, Vice President Shabbar Dhalla, Secretary General Shan E Abbas Hassam, Hon. Treasurer Mohamedkazim Bhaloo, Assistant Hon. Treasurer Muntazir Bhimji, Assistant Secretary General Mahmood Dhala, Executive Councillor Safder Jaffer, the Head of Islamic Education Dr Murtadha Alidina and the Head of Marketing and Communication Anisa Kanji.

After welcoming the delegation, His Eminence emphasised the need for The WF to strengthen its ties with Najaf and maraj’i. He added that according to a ahadith Najaf was the only place on earth where sleeping carried thawab.

The delegation briefed Ayatollah about the community activities and of the new team at The WF.

His Eminence provided the following pieces of advice:

1. How to propagate any message (amr bil maruf and nahi anil munkar)

(a) Using Islamic etiquette, especially control of the tongue

(b) Queries, burning issues and matters of aqida (ideology) have to be addressed. There is need to engage and discuss these.

(c) Like there is respect for the law of land in a country where people live, Allah has His laws that have to be respected on any land on the planet.

(d) One cannot break a law due to his own personal like/dislike. For example, one has to abide by traffic laws despite perhaps our dislike to stop at red signals. Similarly, our likes/dislikes need to be suppressed if it contravenes the laws of God.

2. On leadership in the running of affairs:

(a) Assess oneself before sleeping (muhasabah)

(b) Before sleeping, seek forgiveness and forgive ALL others, rather than face the wrath of God on the Day of Judgement – that was easier than sleeping with a grudge in the dunya.

(c) One character of a leader is that he is open to critique and should review on regular basis the feedback from community on what is done right and what needs correcting. Even if people use foul or bad language, the response of a leader should be with akhlaq (he referred to Sheikh Tusi being called a Dog and how Sheikh Tusi responded in the most polite manner stating that his physique did not match a dog let alone the intellectual and spiritual capacity).

His Eminence stated that biggest challenge today is the tarbiyah of children. He felt children learnt more from the character of their parents and teachers than from the subjects being taught in the first place. He stated that love for the faith is also inculcated through behaviour of peers that has a strong impact on a child.